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Notorious Donald Kelly

Donald Kelly, the murdering outlaw who escaped from the North Bay Jail and eluded police for several weeks in 1975, has died behind bars. He was 71.

Kelly died of apparent natural causes while in custody at Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B. C. Oct. 17, according to the Pacific branch of Correctional Service of Canada.

He was serving a life sentence that began in 1970 for robbery, kidnapping, forcible confinement and murder.

Kelly was the subject of a month-long manhunt beginning Aug. 2, 1975, when he

overpowered a guard at the North Bay Jail and escaped.

He had been in jail while a preliminary hearing was being held for three people, including himself, for the 1969 murder of Carol Ann MacWilliams and her brother-in-law, Jack MacWilliams, both of North Bay.

Former North Bay Police Chief George Berrigan, who moved to the city about a year before the escape, said Kelly ran from the jail and grabbed a gun from an unlocked vehicle that was parked outside. He said Kelly fired a shot into the jail and then ran into Trout Lake Road, launching a search that ended in a shootout with police Sept. 2 at a cabin about 30 kilometres northeast of Sudbury. An Ontario Provincial Police tracking dog was killed during the gun battle.

Kelly ran wild through the area during his month on the lam, gaining an almost folk-hero status.

It was the big news of the day . . . you stepped out your front door and that's what you heard about," said Berrigan, who devoted a chapter to the Kelly case in his book Police Stories -- Tales from a Small-Town Cop.

Berrigan said he never understood why some people cheered for Kelly, especially given the despicable nature of the two murders.

He said there seemed to be more public anger directed at him for the death of the OPP tracking dog than the two people.

Nevertheless, Berrigan said the case made headlines around the globe, with police essentially sealing off area highways during the month-long search.

That's something that hasn't been seen since," he said, noting the province provided the municipal police service with funding afterward to help pay for the search.

Correctional Service said the police and coroner are called in to investigate all inmate deaths. In addition, a review of the circumstances surrounding Kelly's death will be conducted.

Mountain Institution is a federal medium-security institution located 120 kilometres east of Vancouver. The institution houses 440 inmates.

Berrigan said Kelly was at one point released from jail, but ended up back behind bars after breaking the conditions of his parole.